COSLA President Pat Watters, CBE and Councillor Michael Cook, COSLA's Strategic Human Resource Management Spokesperson will launch a new website which hosts job opportunities from Scotland's 32 local authorities at the Society of Personnel Directors Scotland (SPDS) national conference today (Wednesday 5 November).
The Improvement Service has led the development of the portal on behalf of COSLA, working with the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE), the Society of Personnel Directors in Scotland (SPDS) and facilitating collaboration between Scotland's 32 local authorities.
http://www.myjobscotland.gov.uk/ is believed to be a UK and international first in terms of scope and scale and will significantly transform the profile of local government as a dynamic career option.
To persuade job seekers that a career in local government is the right choice for them, a nationwide advertising campaign has also been launched focussing on the real life superheroes who serve our communities every day.
The advertising campaign has been created to draw attention to the recruitment portal which can carry in excess of 30,000 vacancies per year across all 32 local authority areas and other public sector organisations, and process around 250,000 applications every year. Jobseekers will be able to store application data for re-use online and register for job alerts via email.
"There's no such thing as a ‘typical' job in local government, but there are countless opportunities to develop your ideal career and make a real difference to your community," says Councillor Michael Cook, COSLA's Strategic Human Resource Spokesperson.
" We hope that by introducing people to the huge variety and scope of opportunities through http://www.myjobscotland.gov.uk/ they discover the kaleidoscope of opportunities local government can provide.
Councillor Cook concluded: "I'm very excited by the bold approach taken to the national marketing campaign to raise awareness of the website. I think it will capture people's imaginations and encourage them to carefully consider a career in local government."
Infrastructure Minister Stewart Stevenson said: "The recruitment portal is an excellent example of collaboration to deliver efficiencies and free up resources for front line services. Myjobscotland will open up a single point of access to a great variety of jobs, for the moment in local government but hopefully over time across the public sector. E-recruitment will make it easier to access more comprehensive information on job availability, while reducing advertising costs for the public sector. And more than just providing easier access, the portal will drive people towards the benefits, and opportunities, of a career in local government."
Paul Dowie, Director of Shared Services at the Improvement Service said: "This is a significant milestone for the development of sharing across Scottish local government and is testament to the collaborative efforts of stakeholders including SOLACE, COSLA, SPDS, and StepStone - as well as the vision and commitment of individual councils and their staff."
Further information
For more information, please contact David Kennedy at COSLA on 0131 474 9200.
